Friday, May 29, 2009

Friends::Hiss Golden Messenger's Country Hai East Cotton, an album assembled by Scott Hirsch and myself over a period of three years in various studios, lofts, and farmhouses in San Francisco, New York, and North Carolina, is ready to be ordered and shipped!

The album is out on our own label, Heaven & Earth Magic Recording Co. We started this label because we think it is important to control each step of the musical recording and dissemination process by ourselves; Scott and I could no longer reconcile leaving something so important to us in the hands of others.

Does the world need another record label? I suppose it depends who you ask. Obviously we think so. I think there is still a place in the world for those dedicated to spreading good art and, despite what the pundits say, I think there always will be. So there.

The miniature gatefold cover of Country Hai East Cotton was illustrated by our friend Nathaniel Russell, and printed on 100% recycled materials by Stumptown Printers in Portland, OR. The disk itself is encased in a woven inner sleeve, and the whole CD comes enclosed in a protective plastic outer sleeve. Country Hai East Cotton is limited to 500 copies, each one hand-numbered. Rest assured- if it's your thing- that we have laid hands on every single one of these.

To order Country Hai East Cotton visit the Heaven & Earth Magic Recording Co. You can easily order the disk via Paypal on the "Shop/Downloads" page for $14, plus shipping and handling. Alternately, you can obtain a digital version of the record there; although it's not mandatory, we ask that you consider making a donation- something between $5 and $10- in return for MP3s of the album.

I realize that Country Hai East Cotton will be easily obtained for free on a host of torrent sites and blogs very soon, if it isn't already. That's OK. We appreciate that. But, at the risk of sounding totally romantic and/or naive, we're hoping that those who have heard HGM and like what we do will choose to spend a little money on a disk or download directly from us. And a word for armchair audiophiles: The actual disk sounds better. This is not opinion; it's fact. More sonic information.

Also, if you prefer to buy a copy directly from a store, you can do that too. These fine establishments are all carrying Country Hai East Cotton.

Rest assured, we have no idea what we're doing. But as a small organization that cares very much about music, we're trying our best. If you have suggestions about something we could do better, please let us know at hissgoldenmessenger at yahoo dot com. This is not a one way street; we encourage conversation, so get in touch.

We welcome all comers. We want to be friends. Help us do a better job. And we hope that you enjoy Country Hai East Cotton, because we're proud of it.